When
July 11, 2024
Time
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST
Contact Hours
1
Location Online - Course
One Hour Webinar
Description
The Virginia LTAP, in partnership with the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC), the research leg of VDOT, invite you to join us for a one-hour lunch and learn event. This new series will showcase VTRC’s transportation innovation and research.
These monthly, one-hour events will take place at various locations across the Commonwealth from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. You may join remotely via Zoom or attend in-person. Lunch will be provided for those who attend in-person. Those attending in-person will also receive some swag.
TOPIC: Congestion Analysis: Identifying Arterial Bottlenecks and Determining the Cost of Congestion Due to Incidents
Congestion bottleneck analysis using volume and probe speed data are widely used in project planning and performance evaluation. The first part of this presentation will discuss the use of three tools for bottleneck analysis on arterials: RITIS Bottleneck Ranking tool, FHWA CBI tool, and a tool developed by Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC). The RITIS and CBI tools are designed to identify congested road segments in one travel direction, while the VTRC tool is customized to rank intersection bottlenecks as it considers the traffic on all intersection approaches at the same time. The pros and cons of each tool will be discussed.
Traffic incidents are one of the major causes of congestion. VDOT regularly considers how an effective incident management strategy can benefit the public. The big question is: how much money could commuters save if an incident response plan reduced the time roads were closed by just one minute? The second part of this presentation will discuss a study that uses economic, traffic, incident, and roadway geometry datasets to estimate the per-minute incident congestion costs for freeways in Virginia. The study reveals significant cost variations across VDOT districts, routes, time-of-day, and day-of-week; the costs can range from less than $1 per minute for shoulder-closing events in rural areas to more than $1,000 per minute for lane-blocking incidents in Northern Virginia during AM peak hours. With the variation in costs, this study recommends that corridor-based cost values be used for analyses of project across different locations and time periods. A visualization tool was developed to provide easy access to the congestion cost values for VDOT staff.
Instructor
Mo Zhao
Mo Zhao is a senior research scientist at the Virginia Transportation Research Council. Her current research focuses on big data analytics in transportation, system performance measurement, intelligent transportation systems, and highway safety. She has a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia.
Chien-Lun Lan
Chien-Lun Lan is a research scientist at the Virginia Transportation Research Council. Holding a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, he has consistently contributed to traffic operations and safety. His research interests span both traditional and emerging topics in transportation – from estimating freeway congestion costs and identifying high-crash road segments to leveraging data analytics to monitor roadway performances.
Who Should Attend
State, Local, and private industry transportation engineers
Registration and Payment
The following registration fees cover the session, all course materials and meals:
Free
Click here for UVA TTA's general registration information, cancellation policy, and refund policy. UVA TTA accepts the following credit cards: American Express, VISA, MasterCard, and Discover. Credit card information cannot be taken over the phone. Alternatively, after registering you can print out a voucher to send in with your payment. After you have completed the transaction you will receive an automatically generated email confirming registration and payment if applicable. Final confirmation and instructions will be sent out during the week prior to the class date.
Special Registration Instructions for Employees of the Virginia Department of Transportation
VDOT employees must register through the VDOT Virtual Campus. Registration fees and related expenses for all VDOT employees will be paid from the VDOT Learning Services Center budget. Registrants should contact their District Training Coordinator or the VDOT Learning Services Center (Central Office employees) for instructions on how to seek reimbursement for travel expenses.
Due to current travel restrictions, VDOT employees are strongly encouraged to attend U. Va. TTA workshops on a day trip basis. Overnight travel requires permission from your District Administrator or Chief -- and in some cases higher levels of authority. If you require overnight lodging to attend a U. Va. TTA workshop, consult with your supervisor, District Training Coordinator, or VDOT Learning Services Center on travel approval procedures.